The visitor facilities and physical improvements alluded to by Mather included the construction of a large combination mess hall and bunk house at Lost Creek for the use of early park visitors entering from the east. A 70-foot log boat landing had been constructed at Wizard Island. Two new flush toilet facilities with lavatories and oil-burning water heaters for hot showers were constructed at each of the campgrounds at the rim and Anna Spring.
An upgraded publicity program for the park was also initiated in 1923. The Southern Pacific Railroad and the Crater Lake National Park Company led the campaign. Superintendent Sparrow contributed to the publicity initiatives by preparing articles for publication in four national periodicals and various newspapers.
The new visitor facilities and the publicity efforts contributed to making 1923 the highest visitation year in Crater Lake’s history to date. The total number of visitors increased by some 57 percent to 52,017. The western entrance continued to be the most popular. A new record for the largest single day’s visitation through an entrance was established on September 2 with 235 cars carrying 884 visitors entering the park via the western gateway. Visitors came from every state but two, and from such places as Hawaii, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. There was a notable increase of visitors from California, the “number of first entry cars from that State during July equaling first entries from Oregon itself.” [19]
Visitation to Crater Lake increased by another 24 percent in 1924 to 64,312. This increase, according to Mather, was the result of four factors: an early opening; the park’s location almost midway in the Pacific Coast chain of parks extending from Sequoia to Mount Rainier; the improvement of approach roads; and “increased publicity, largely spontaneous, given by lovers of this Cascade gem.”
Improvements to visitor facilities by the Crater Lake National Park Company continued to lure visitors to the park. During 1924 the addition (north annex) to the lodge was completed on the exterior, and 22 of the 85 new rooms were completed and furnished. A new 40-passenger launch was placed in service on the lake, and a new boathouse was constructed on Wizard Island. In addition the Kiser studio added a small wing to provide a one-day film developing and printing service. [20]
During the summer of 1924 the Community House was completed at the Rim Campground. Funds for the structure had originally been intended for construction of a new home for the superintendent, but Thomson diverted the money toward the visitor activity structure. The Community House had a large rustic fireplace and was provided with a Victrola by the Medford “Craters,” a booster organization dedicated to promoting park development. The structure became the setting for informal evening gatherings, lectures, dancing, and musical programs, the latter featuring the “Kentucky Rangers” quartet consisting of four seasonal park rangers from that state. [21]
Prior to the 1925 travel season, R.W. Price, who had become president of the Crater Lake National Park Company, began an advertising campaign for the park. The campaign, which took the form of an annual trip that he continued until 1941, consisted of visits to railroad passenger and tour agencies throughout the eastern United States. His annual tours took him from Chicago to Washington, D.C., north to Boston, west to Buffalo and Cleveland, and back to Chicago. [22]
Travel to Crater Lake increased slightly to 65,018 in 1925. Of this total, some 98 percent traveled in their private automobiles. For the first time in its history Crater Lake entertained guests from every state in the union, as well as several foreign countries. This travel increase was significant because the 1925 season was five weeks shorter than that of 1924 because of adverse weather conditions.
Only minor improvements were made to visitor facilities in 1925. These included the completion and furnishing of nine rooms in the lodge, thus bringing its total to 92, eight new rowboats, and a complete sewage-disposal plant. [23]
With the increasing visitation the National Park Service implemented an extensive road sign information program at Crater Lake during the mid-1920s. In 1925, for instance, the park information circular, stated:
